U.S. patent application number 09/980056 was filed with the patent office on 2002-10-31 for cellular telephone, and method and apparatus for backup of data of cellular telephone.
Invention is credited to Aoyama, Shinji.
Application Number | 20020160760 09/980056 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18614287 |
Filed Date | 2002-10-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020160760 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Aoyama, Shinji |
October 31, 2002 |
Cellular telephone, and method and apparatus for backup of data of
cellular telephone
Abstract
Upon establishing a wireless speech connection with a host
station, a cellular telephone automatically sends data for backup
that includes at least control information stored in the telephone.
The data transmitted from the cellular telephone are saved in a
data backup device of the host office.
Inventors: |
Aoyama, Shinji;
(Ichikawa-shi, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Pearne & Gordon
Suite 1200
526 Superior Avenue East
Cleveland
OH
44114-1484
US
|
Family ID: |
18614287 |
Appl. No.: |
09/980056 |
Filed: |
November 29, 2001 |
PCT Filed: |
March 29, 2001 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP01/02685 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/414.1 ;
455/419; 714/E11.12 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 11/1451 20130101;
H04M 1/724 20210101; G06F 11/1456 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/414 ;
455/412; 455/419 |
International
Class: |
H04M 011/10; H04M
003/42; H04M 003/00; H04M 001/00; H04B 001/38 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 31, 2000 |
JP |
2000-100017 |
Claims
1. A method of backing up data stored in a portable telephone (10)
such as a cellular phone, a personal handy phone, a car telephone,
a maritime mobile radiotelephone, a satellite cellular phone
machine or the likes, said method comprising the steps of
automatically transmitting data such as at least control
information or setup function information required for operating
said portable telephone, telephone call information of telephone
numbers, arrival telephone numbers, dispatch telephone numbers,
call time and so on set and stored in said portable telephone in
association with a telephone call operation when a voice signal
begins to be delivered and received for the telephone call between
said portable telephone and a host office (12) via a radio signal
and storing said data transmitted from said portable telephone in a
data backup equipment (14) provided in or connected to said host
office whereby said data stored in said portable telephone are
backed up.
2. A data backup method for a portable telephone as set forth in
claim 1 and characterized by automatically transmitting to said
host office said data such as control information or setup function
information required for operating said portable telephone, a
telephone call information of telephone numbers, arrival telephone
numbers, dispatch telephone numbers, call time and so on or other
arbitrary data set and stored in said portable telephone at an
arbitrary time set by a timer (26).
3. A data backup method for a portable telephone as set forth claim
1 or 2 and characterized by further comprising the step of feeding
back to said portable telephone said data stored in said data
backup equipment provided in or connected to said host office
whereby said data is re-memorized in said portable telephone.
4. A data backup method for a portable telephone as set forth in
either of claims 1 through 3 and characterized by further
comprising the step of arbitrarily selecting and setting said data
to be transmitted to said host office or said data to be fed back
to said portable telephone from said data backup equipment provided
in or connected to said host office.
5. A data backup method for a portable telephone as set forth in
either of claims 1 through 4 and characterized by further
comprising the step of automatically processing or converting into
other information said data transmitted from said portable
telephone to said data backup equipment provided in or connected to
said host office in case that said data have such predetermined
conditions as said data are required to be processed whereby said
processed or converted data are fed back.
6. A portable telephone (10) such as a cellular phone, a personal
handy phone, a car telephone, a maritime mobile radiotelephone, a
satellite cellular phone machine or the likes equipped with a
telephone call section which delivers and receives a voice signal
through a radio signal between said portable telephone and a host
office (12) so as to enable a telephone call with a called person,
said portable telephone characterized by comprising a data
transmitter section (16) to automatically transmit data such as
control information or setup function information required for
operating said portable telephone, a telephone call information of
telephone numbers, arrival telephone numbers, dispatch telephone
numbers, call time and so on set and stored in said portable
telephone in association with a telephone call operation when a
voice signal begins to be delivered and received for said telephone
call between said portable telephone and said host office via said
radio signal.
7. A portable telephone as set forth in claim 6, and wherein said
data transmitter section characterized by automatically
transmitting to said host office said data such as control
information or setup function information required for operating
said portable telephone, a telephone call information of telephone
numbers, arrival telephone numbers, dispatch telephone numbers,
call time and so on or other arbitrary data set and stored in said
portable telephone at an arbitrary time set by a timer (26).
8. A portable telephone as set forth in claim 6 or 7, and
characterized by further comprising a data feedback section (32) to
feed back to said portable telephone said data stored in said data
backup equipment provided in or connected to said host office
whereby said data is re-memorized in said portable telephone.
9. A portable telephone as set forth in claim 6 or 7, and
characterized by further comprising a telephone side data selection
section (36) to arbitrarily select and set said data to be
transmitted to said host office by said data transmitter section or
said data to be fed back to said portable telephone from said host
office by said data feedback section.
10. A data backup equipment (14) for backing up data stored in a
portable telephone (10) such as a cellular phone, a personal handy
phone, a car telephone, a maritime mobile radiotelephone, a
satellite cellular phone machine or the likes, said data backup
equipment characterized by comprising a notification section (30)
to automatically notify said portable telephone at an arbitrary
time set by a timer (28) that data such as control information or
setup function information required for operating said portable
telephone, a telephone call information of telephone numbers,
arrival telephone numbers, dispatch telephone numbers, call time
and so on set and stored in said portable telephone should be
transmitted to a host office (12).
11. A data backup equipment (14) for backing up data stored in a
portable telephone (10) such as a cellular phone, a personal handy
phone, a car telephone, a maritime mobile radiotelephone, a
satellite cellular phone machine or the likes, said data backup
equipment characterized by comprising a data read section (42)
provided in or connected to a host office (12) which delivers and
receives a voice signal through a radio signal between said
portable telephone and said host office so as to enable a telephone
call with a called person to automatically read data such as
control information or setup function information required for
operating said portable telephone, a telephone call information of
telephone numbers, arrival telephone numbers, dispatch telephone
numbers, call time and so on set and stored in said portable
telephone in association with a telephone call operation when said
voice signal begins to be delivered and received for said telephone
call between said portable telephone and said host office via said
radio signal whereby said data read by said data read section are
stored.
12. A data backup equipment for a portable telephone as set forth
in claim 11, and wherein said data read section automatically reads
said data such as control information or setup function information
required for operating said portable telephone, a telephone call
information of telephone numbers, arrival telephone numbers,
dispatch telephone numbers, call time and so on or other arbitrary
data set and stored in said portable telephone at an arbitrary time
set by a timer (28).
13. A data backup equipment for a portable telephone as set forth
in either of claims 10 through 12, and characterized by further
comprising a feedback data transmitter section (34) to feed back
said stored data to said portable telephone whereby said data is
re-memorized in said portable telephone.
14. A data backup equipment for a portable telephone as set forth
in either of claims 10 through 13, and characterized by further
comprising a host office side data selection section (38) to
arbitrarily select and set said data to be read from said portable
telephone by said data read section or said data to be fed back to
said portable telephone by said feedback data transmitter
section.
15. A data backup equipment for a portable telephone as set forth
in either of claims 10 through 14, and characterized by further
comprising a data process section (40) to automatically process or
convert into other information said data received from said
portable telephone in case that said data have such predetermined
conditions as said data are required to be processed.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This invention relates to a data backup method for a
portable telephone for backing up data such as telephone numbers
and so on set and stored in the portable telephone, a portable
telephone usable directly for carrying out this method and a data
backup equipment for a portable telephone.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] Since such portable telephones as cellular phones, personal
handy phones (referred as to "PHS" later) and so on generally have
a memory dial function for previously setting and storing the
telephone numbers of partners in the telephones, many users can
manage the telephone numbers of the partners using the memory dial
function without memorizing the telephone numbers in another
memory.
[0003] Thus, if the data such as the telephone numbers of the
partners happen to be not able to be utilized because of a loss or
a failure of the portable telephones or because of an elimination
of the data due to external causes such as erroneous operation,
shocks and so on, the users would suffer great disadvantages.
[0004] In addition to the case that the data cannot be utilized, in
case that an old portable telephone is replaced by a new portable
telephone, it will take much time for the user itself to input the
same data as stored in the old telephone into the new telephone.
Furthermore, if the data such as the telephone numbers stored in
one telephone might be utilized in another telephone, a convenience
of the telephones would increase.
[0005] In consideration of the aforementioned points, there have
been proposed many arts in which the data such as the telephone
numbers and so on stored in the portable telephones are stored into
external storages. However, most of them disadvantageously require
an equipment for externally storing the data separately for the
portable telephone. These arts are disclosed in JP55-128955,
JP58-58669, JP60-49463, JP61-20464, JP61-43050, JP64-22153,
JP2-172355, JP4-302245, JP5-145476, JP9-64959, JP10-32631,
JP11-74962, JU62-112241 and JU4-110034.
[0006] Furthermore, there have been proposed many other arts in
which the data such as the telephone numbers are delivered and
received between the portable telephone and a general information
processing equipment called as a mobile gear or a personal computer
without using any equipment peculiarly prepared for storing the
telephone numbers. Similarly, these arts also disadvantageously
require an equipment for externally storing the data separately for
the portable telephone. These arts are disclosed in JP5-56131,
JP5-292172, JP6-46120, JP6-90309, JP6-244986, JP7-111525 and
JP8-6902, for example.
[0007] There has been proposed an art in which abbreviating dial
information is stored in an external storage prepared in a
telephone operation station or an exclusive operator without
preparing it on the side of the user of the telephone so that other
portable telephones can commonly use the abbreviating dial
information. This art is disclosed in JP8-307944.
[0008] However, since any of the prior arts including the art in
which the external storage is provided in the telephone operation
station or the like requires the operation which the users
themselves memorize such data as the telephone numbers and so on in
the external storage, back up them or make an instruction therefor,
the operation is much troublesome.
[0009] As the result, there occurs a problem in which the data such
as the telephone numbers and so on cannot be possibly restored
later when the data are erroneously eliminated or lost in case that
the users fail to or don't or forget to back up the data. This is a
big trouble in taking into consideration that the backup data are
suddenly required in many cases.
[0010] There has been provided an art in which the data stored in
volatile memories such as RAM, SRAM and so on which are operated in
association with the power supply are memorized in the portable
telephones together with the charging operation. This is disclosed
in JP5-55979.
[0011] This also has occurred such a problem that if the data to be
re-memorized in the portable telephones are previously neither
stored nor backed up in the external storage, the data cannot be
prevented from being lost because the data stored in the peculiarly
prepared external storage is just re-memorized in the portable
telephone together with the charging operation and because the data
cannot be stored unless the RAM gets the state of being able to be
operated by its energization and therefore the data are just
re-memorized after the RAM gets the state of being able to be
operated together with the charging operation or after being
charged and in addition thereto, the external storage should be
provided separately from the portable telephones in preparation for
consumption of the battery and brought together with the portable
telephones and if otherwise, the data cannot be restored, which
causes the troublesome operation to be required.
[0012] Since any of the aforementioned prior arts have the object
of only backing up the data such as the telephone numbers of the
particular parties for operating the telephones to the parties,
this cannot be coped with when the telephone break down in such a
manner as the control information required for the operation of the
portable telephones such as the programs peculiar to the telephones
required to get the waiting-for state of arrival and dispatch of
the telephones is lost by any cause.
[0013] In addition thereto, in any of the prior arts, since the
setup functions in which the users themselves set personal
identification numbers, adjust the arrival sound of the telephones
and so on cannot be backed up, the information on these setup
functions other than the telephone numbers has to be re-input by
the users themselves when the old telephones are replaced by the
telephones newly bought, for example, which produces a problem of
making the operations troublesome.
[0014] The object of the invention is to provide a data backup
method for a portable telephone and a method of backing up data by
using the equipment adapted to prevent the data from being lost
without any operation of intentionally backing up the date so that
the data can be easily reused as they are and to more easily cope
with the break-down of the telephones and the replacement of the
telephones.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0015] This invention fundamentally provides a method of backing up
data stored in a portable telephone such as a cellular phone, a
personal handy phone, a car telephone, a maritime mobile
radiotelephone, a satellite cellular phone machine or the likes,
said method comprising the steps of automatically transmitting data
such as at least control information or setup function information
required for operating the portable telephone, telephone call
information of telephone numbers, arrival telephone numbers,
dispatch telephone numbers, call time and so on set and stored in
the portable telephone in association with a telephone call
operation when a voice signal begins to be delivered and received
for the telephone call between the portable telephone and a host
office via radio signal and storing the data transmitted from the
portable telephone in a data backup equipment provided in or
connected to the host office whereby the data stored in the
portable telephone are backed up.
[0016] In this manner, as the data such as the telephone numbers
are automatically transmitted to the host office and stored in the
data backup equipment in association with the telephone call
operation which is in the state of ordinary use of the portable
telephone, the telephone numbers and so on can be positively backed
up without any intentional backup operation by the users. Thus, the
backing up can be done without any troublesome operation and the
important data can be positively prevented from being lost due to a
failure to back up the data.
[0017] In this case, as the control information required for the
operation of the portable telephone such as the program or the like
peculiar to the portable telephone for requiring the telephone to
wait for the arrival or the dispatch thereof in addition to the
information such as the telephone numbers and so on input by the
user as aforementioned are backed up, even if an obstacle to the
control information happens by any cause and the portable telephone
breaks down, the control information can be easily restored by the
backed up data. Furthermore, since various setup function
information such as a personal identification number and an arrival
sound set by the user is backed up, even though these data are lost
or even though an old telephone is replaced by a new telephone, the
user itself is not required to re-input the setup function
information in the new telephone because the backed up data can be
used, which requires no troublesome operation of the user.
[0018] In the invention, what is meant by "control information
required for the operation of the portable telephone" is the
program peculiar to the telephone and required for getting the
waiting-for state of the arrival or the dispatch of the telephone,
which is required for the minimum function of the telephone and
what is meant by "setup function information" is the setup
information such as the selection of the personal identification
number and the arrival sound, the adjustment of the arrival sound
volume and the telephone call sound volume, the setup of the
answering function, the dial key lock or the likes set by the user
for setting the waiting-for state in predetermined
circumstance.
[0019] As the arrival telephone numbers (arrival history) and the
dispatch telephone numbers (dispatch history) among the telephone
call information in addition to the control information, the setup
function information and the telephone numbers are also backed up,
even though the former data are eliminated because of the telephone
call information amount exceeding the memory limit of the portable
telephone, the user can have access to and use the eliminated data.
Similarly, even though the information fails to be stored in the
memory dial (telephone directory), the user can have access to and
use the information later. Also, as the telephone call time is
backed up, it can be used for referring to the use time and the use
charge later.
[0020] As the data are backed up in the backup equipment provided
in or connected to the host office for the telephone call, no
peculiar equipment is required to be provided on the side of the
user.
[0021] The portable telephone usually transmits an electric wave to
base stations (a satellite for a satellite cellular phone) located
at various places and does a telephone call to other telephones
through a portable telephone exchange station connected to the base
station. The portable telephone exchange station may be replaced by
a control station connected to the base station and a portable
telephone exchange station connected to the control station
depending the kind of the portable telephone or by a general
exchange station connected the portable telephone exchange station
which is in turn connected to the control station if the portable
telephone should do a telephone call to a general wire telephone.
In this invention, what is meant by "host office" includes the base
station which receives the electric wave from the portable
telephone, the control office, and the portable telephone exchange
station.
[0022] Since the base stations are located at various places and
therefore not suitable for collectively keeping and managing the
data, the data backup equipment may be desirably provided in the
control station or the portable telephone exchange station in
general. The data backup equipment may be provided at a separate
place for the management of the information such as a management
center connected to the host office, but not at the host office
itself. As the data backup equipment is separately provided from
the host office, the equipment is not connected to the control or
the portable telephone exchange office, but to the base station
whereby the data to be backed up can be transmitted from the base
station directly to the data backup equipment such as the
management center.
[0023] In the data backup method of the invention, the data such as
a control information or a setup function information required at
least for operating the portable telephone, a telephone call
information of telephone numbers, arrival telephone numbers,
dispatch telephone numbers, call time and so on or other arbitrary
data set and stored in the portable telephone may be automatically
transmitted to the host office at an arbitrary time set by a
timer.
[0024] In this manner, as the data to be backed up are
automatically transmitted to the host office at the arbitrary time
set by the timer, the required data can be positively backed up
even though the telephone call by telephone arrival or dispatch is
not carried out by the user over a long period of time. Thus, the
data can be fully prevented from being accidentally lost.
[0025] The data backup method of the invention further feeds back
to the portable telephone the data stored in the data backup
equipment provided in or connected to the host office whereby the
data is re-memorized in the portable telephone.
[0026] As the data stored in the data backup equipment are adapted
to be fed back to the portable telephone in this manner, the data
such as the telephone numbers and so on in the portable telephone
can be easily restored to the original condition even though they
are accidentally lost. In case that the old portable telephone is
replaced by the new portable telephone, the data such as the
telephone numbers and so on set and used in the former portable
telephone can be used without any operation of re-inputting and
re-setting the data as well.
[0027] The data backup method of the invention may arbitrarily
select and set the data to be transmitted to the host office or the
data to be fed back to the portable telephone from the data backup
equipment provided in or connected to the host office.
[0028] As the data to be backed up or fed back can be selected and
set, the data that the user doesn't want to update can be set up
arbitrarily and therefore the unintentional update of the data can
be prevented and the unnecessary data communications can be
omitted.
[0029] The data backup method of the invention may automatically
processes or converts into other information the data transmitted
from the portable telephone to the data backup equipment provided
in or connected to the host office in case that the data have such
predetermined conditions as the data are required to be processed
whereby the processed data can be fed back to the portable
telephone.
[0030] As the data read from the portable telephone is adapted to
be automatically processed and stored in case that the data have
such predetermined conditions as the data are required to be
processed, the control signal such as the control program or the
likes can be re-stored in the portable telephone after its upgrade
so as to easily add the new functions thereto. Furthermore, the
numbers of the cellular phones and the PHSs which are stored by 10
figures can be converted into the proper numbers of 11 figures and
the data which are stored in Kana characters can be converted into
the ones in Chinese characters corresponding thereto, for example.
Thus, the existing portable telephones can be easily made to
upgrade by affording the same function as the newest model to the
existing telephones of the old model.
[0031] The invention further provides a portable telephone such as
a cellular phone, a personal handy phone, a car telephone, a
maritime mobile radiotelephone, a satellite cellular phone machine
or the likes equipped with a telephone call section which delivers
and receives a voice signal through a radio signal between the
portable telephone and a host office so as to enable a telephone
call with a called person, the portable telephone characterized by
comprising a data transmitter section to automatically transmit
data such as control information or setup function information
required for operating the portable telephone, a telephone call
information of telephone numbers, arrival telephone numbers,
dispatch telephone numbers, call time and so on set and stored in
the portable telephone in association with a telephone call
operation when the voice signal begins to be delivered and received
for the telephone call between the portable telephone and the host
office via the radio signal.
[0032] This portable telephone can be used for the data backup
method of the invention. This is used for accomplishing the
aforementioned method by issuing an instruction for backing up the
data from the portable telephone.
[0033] In the portable telephone of the invention, the data
transmitter section may automatically transmits to the host office
the data such as control information or setup function information
required for operating the portable telephone, a telephone call
information of telephone numbers, arrival telephone numbers,
dispatch telephone numbers, call time and so on or other arbitrary
data set and stored in the portable telephone at an arbitrary time
set by a timer.
[0034] The portable telephone of the invention may further
comprises a data feedback section to feed back to the portable
telephone the data transmitted to the host office whereby the data
is re-memorized in the portable telephone.
[0035] The portable telephone of the invention may further
comprises a telephone side data selection section to arbitrarily
select and set the data to be transmitted to the host office by the
data transmitter section or the data to be fed back to the portable
telephone from the host office by the data feedback section.
[0036] The invention further provides a data backup equipment (a
first data backup equipment) for backing up data stored in a
portable telephone such as a cellular phone, a personal handy
phone, a car telephone, a maritime mobile radiotelephone, a
satellite cellular phone machine or the likes, the data backup
equipment characterized by comprising a notification section to
automatically notify the portable telephone at an arbitrary time
set by a timer that data such as control information or setup
function information required at least for operating the portable
telephone, a telephone call information of telephone numbers,
arrival telephone numbers, dispatch telephone numbers, call time
and so on set and stored in the portable telephone should be
transmitted to a host office.
[0037] This first data backup equipment can be used for the data
backup method of this invention. Although the aforementioned data
backup method can be carried out by issuing the instruction for
backing up the data on the side of the portable telephone so as to
transmit the data (item 1), it may be carried out by issuing the
instruction on the side of the date backup equipment provided in
the host office so as to read the data (item 2) or on the sides of
both of the portable telephone and the data backup equipment (item
3).
[0038] The first data backup equipment of the invention is used for
accomplishing the aforementioned method by issuing the data backup
instruction not on the side of the data backup equipment, but on
the side of the portable telephone described in the aforementioned
item 1. The notification section serves to call attention to the
side of the telephone (the user) so that the data should be backed
up through the telephone call. This enables the data to be
positively backed up even though the user does not telephones over
a long period.
[0039] The invention further provides a data backup equipment (a
second data backup equipment) for backing up data stored in a
portable telephone such as a cellular phone, a personal handy
phone, a car telephone, a: maritime mobile radiotelephone, a
satellite cellular phone machine or the likes, the data backup
equipment characterized by comprising a data read section provided
in or connected to a host office which delivers and receives a
voice signal through a radio signal between the portable
telephone-and the host office so as to enable a telephone call with
a called person to automatically read data such as control
information or setup function information required for operating
the portable telephone, a telephone call information of telephone
numbers, arrival telephone numbers, dispatch telephone numbers,
call time and so on set and stored in the portable telephone in
association with a telephone call operation when the voice signal
begins to be delivered and received for the telephone call between
the portable telephone and the host office via the radio signal
whereby the data read by the data read section are stored.
[0040] The second data backup equipment is used for accomplishing
the aforementioned method by reading the data stored in the
portable telephone from the data backup equipment as described in
the item 2 or 3.
[0041] In the second data backup equipment, the data read section
may automatically read the data such as control information or
setup function information required for operating the portable
telephone, a telephone call information of telephone numbers,
arrival telephone numbers, dispatch telephone numbers, call time
and so on or other arbitrary data set and stored in the portable
telephone at an arbitrary time set by a timer.
[0042] The first or second data backup equipment of the invention
may comprise a feedback data transmitter section to feed back the
stored data to the portable telephone whereby the data is
re-memorized in the portable telephone.
[0043] The first or second data backup equipment of the invention
may comprise a host office side data selection section to
arbitrarily select and set the data to be read from the portable
telephone by the data read section or the data to be fed back to
the portable telephone by the feedback data transmitter
section.
[0044] The first or second data backup equipment of the invention
may comprise a data process section to automatically process or
convert into other information the data received from the portable
telephone in case that the data have such conditions as the date
are required to be processed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0045] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a condition in which the
data backup method for a portable telephone according to the
invention is carried out and a data backup equipment used for this
method; and
[0046] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the portable telephone used
for the invention.
BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0047] Describing a mode of carrying out the invention, FIG. 1
illustrates a condition in which a data backup method for a
portable telephone 10 according to the invention is carried out.
The portable telephone 10 may be any of a cellular phone, a
personal handy phone system (PHS), a car telephone, a maritime
mobile radiotelephone machine, a satellite cellular phone machine
and so on. Of course, it is not limited to the aforementioned ones
and may include mobile communication devices having other functions
as long as they have the minimum function of telephone call.
[0048] In the invention, data set and stored in the portable
telephone 10 are transmitted to a host office for telephone call as
shown in FIG. 1 to back up the data. In the illustrated embodiment,
the host office 12 comprises a base station 12A located at various
places in a dotted manner to deliver and receive an electric wave
between the host office 12 and the portable telephone 10, a control
station 12B connected to the base station 12A and a portable
telephone exchange station 12C connected to the control station
12B.
[0049] In the illustrated embodiment, the data to be transfemitted
to and backed up in the host office 12 is stored in a data backup
equipment 14 installed in the portable telephone exchange station
12C of the host office 12. Thus, no peculiar equipment on the side
of the user of the portable telephone 10 is required for backing up
the data.
[0050] In this case, the data to be backed up are automatically
transmitted in association with the telephone call when the
portable telephone 10 begins to deliver and receive a voice signal
via a radio signal between the portable telephone 10 and the host
office 12 for the telephone call and stored in the data backup
equipment 14. Thus, since the telephone numbers and so on can be
positively backed up without any operation for the intentional data
backup by the user, trouble can be saved and also the important
data can be prevented from being lost due to the failure to back up
the data.
[0051] More particularly, in the illustrated embodiment, backing up
the data to the host office 12 is instructed on the side of the
portable telephone 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the portable telephone
10 may have a data transmitter section 16 connected to a control
section 18 and a data storage section 20 in which the data to be
backed up are stored and also connected to a telephone call section
22 to deliver and receive the voice signal via the radio signal
between the portable telephone 10 and the host office 12 to enable
the telephone call with a person to be called. In FIG. 2 are
illustrated only elements to be relevant to the invention among the
elements of the portable telephone 10 and a reference numeral 24
designates an antenna.
[0052] The data transmitter section 16 reads the predetermined data
from the control section 18 and the data storage section 20 by
detecting the telephone call which begins by the delivery and
reception of the voice signal by the telephone call section 22 and
transmits the data through the telephone call section 22 and the
antenna 24 to the host office 12.
[0053] In this case, although the signal through which the data to
be backed up should be transmitted may be in the form of a packet
signal, a TCP/IP radio signal and so on, it is not limited thereto
and other appropriate signals may be used. The data signal is
desirably transmitted separately from the voice signal for the
telephone call, but in parallel thereto in consideration of a bad
influence to the amount of data and the telephone call and may be
transmitted simultaneously when the voice signal for the telephone
call is transmitted, but they may be transmitted in addition to the
voice signals for the telephone call depending on the kind of the
signal.
[0054] The data to be transmitted to the host office 12 by the data
transmitter section 16 include at least control information
required for operating the portable telephone 10 among various data
set and stored in the portable telephone. More particularly, such
control information to be backed up may include a control program
peculiar to the telephone and required for getting the waiting-for
state of the arrival or the dispatch of the telephone, which is
required for the minimum function of the telephone and stored in a
non-volatility memory such as ROM, PROM and so on in the control
section 18 of the portable telephone 10. With respect to the
control program, it will be considered that a program such as a
portable telephone operation system having a Java function in
future may be installed in the portable telephone. This program may
be included in the data to be backed up. In other words, the
programs for controlling the portable telephone may be widely
applicable to the backup in spite of the memorization method and
the kind of memories to store the data. Thus, even if the telephone
will be in a failure state because of the occurrence of a trouble
in the control information due to any cause, the telephone can be
easily restored to the original condition by feeding back the
backed up data to the portable telephone 10 in a preferable
manner.
[0055] In addition thereto, there may be backed up such setup
function information as the selection of the personal
identification number and the arrival sound, the adjustment of the
arrival sound volume and telephone call sound volume, the setup of
the answering function or the dial key lock, for example, stored in
the memories in the control section 18 and the data storage section
20 and set by the user for setting the waiting-for state in
predetermined circumstances. This saves trouble not only in case
that the data are eliminated, but also in case that the old
portable telephone is replaced by the new portable telephone
because the backed up data can be used without any operation of the
user's re-setting these setup function information data.
[0056] In addition to the control information and the setup
function information, there may be backed up the telephone call
information such as the telephone number, the abbreviated dialing,
the dispatch telephone number information, the arrival telephone
number information, telephone call time or the likes and other
arbitrary data stored in the volatility memory such as RAM, SRAM
and so on in the data storage section 20. Especially, in case that
the telephone call information such as the arrival telephone number
information (arrival history) and the dispatch telephone number
information (dispatch history) are backed up, even though the old
or former data happen to be eliminated because the amount of these
telephone call information exceeds the limit of the memory, the
user can have access to and use them later even though the user
fails to write them in the dial directories. By backing up the
telephone call time, it can be used for referring to the use time
or use charge later. Others may be backed up so long as at least
the aforementioned control information is included in the data to
be backed up.
[0057] As shown in FIG. 1, the host office 12 that receives the
data transmitted from the portable telephone 10 transmits the
received data to the data backup equipment 14 where the data are
stored. Any kind of medium in which the data should be stored may
be used so long as the data to be backed up can be appropriately
stored.
[0058] The data backup equipment 14 may judge an identification
number information such as a subscriber number and so on
transmitted from the portable telephone 10 together with the
telephone call and store and manage the data corresponding to the
identification number in a management area corresponding to the
identification number for every identification number. Thus, the
data for one of the subscribers are never erroneously confused with
those for the other subscribers. The identification number is not
limited to the subscriber number, but may be arbitrary one set in
the portable telephone 10 for every user when it subscribes for the
portable telephone or purchases it. This enables the backed up data
to be used for the new portable telephone 10 when the old telephone
is replaced by the new one or when the subscriber number
changes.
[0059] Although, in the invention, the data backup starts
fundamentally under the condition of telephone call, the data to be
backed up may be automatically transmitted to the host office 12 at
an arbitrary time set by a timer. This enables the necessary data
to be positively backed up even though the user does not do the
telephone call by the arrival or the dispatch of the portable
telephone over a long period of time and therefore more positively
prevents the data from being accidentally eliminated.
[0060] Since, in the illustrated embodiment, the command of the
operation of backing up the data may be applied by the data
transmitter section 16 detecting the dispatch or the arrival of the
portable telephone 10, it may be applied by setting the portable
telephone so as to start the transmission of the data under the
conditions other than the telephone call. More particularly, as
shown in FIG. 1, the data transmitter section 16 may include a
timer 26 and the data to be backed up may be automatically
transmitted to the host office 12 at an arbitrary time set by the
timer 26.
[0061] Moreover, in place of or in addition to the timer 26 in the
portable telephone 10, the data backup equipment may be provided
with a notification section 30 to automatically notify the portable
telephone 10 at an arbitrary time set by a timer 28 that the data
to be backed up should be transmitted to the host office whereby
the notification section 30 makes an attention to the user that the
data should be backed up. This also enables the data to be
positively backed up even though the user does not do the telephone
call over a long period of time.
[0062] In the method of the invention, the data stored in the data
backup equipment 14 provided in the host office 12 can be fed back
to the portable telephone 10 and be re-memorized therein. This
enables the portable telephone to be restored to the original
condition even though the data such as the telephone numbers and
others are accidentally eliminated. Especially, the failure of the
portable telephone can be easily restored by feeding back the
control information and the data such as the telephone numbers set
and used in the former portable telephone 10 replaced by the new
portable telephone can be used for the new portable telephone as
they are without any operation of inputting and re-setting
them.
[0063] More particularly, it can be accomplished by providing a
data feedback section 32 in the portable telephone 10 as shown in
FIG. 2, which serves to feed back to the portable telephone 10 the
data transmitted to the host office and re-memorize therein. The
data feedback section 32 may feed back the data by reading and
receiving the data stored in the data backup equipment 14 in the
host office 12 and updating or writing them in various memories,
which is commanded by the user's applying the predetermined
operation to the portable telephone 10 when the data in the
portable telephone 10 are accidentally eliminated or when the data
are required to be fed back for any reason. Since the control
information is generally stored in a non-volatile memory and
therefore it may be updated or written, it may be desirably
memorized in the memory such as the non-volatile ROM of EEPROM or
flash memory, the non-volatile RAM of NVRAM (RAM and EEPROM) and so
on, in which the data can be electrically written or erased.
[0064] Since the portable telephone 10 cannot get the
waiting-for-state in case that there happens an obstacle in the
control information, the user cannot possiby perform the process
for the telephone call or the aforementioned feedback back on the
side of the portable telephone 10. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, in
addition to the provision of the data feedback section 32 in the
portable telephone 10, in the data backup equipment 14 in the host
office 12 may be also provided a feedback data transmitter section
34 to feed back the stored data to the portable telephone 10 and
memorize them in the portable telephone 10 whereby a host office
manager informed by the user applies a feedback command to the
feedback data transmitter section 34 or the user itself applies the
feedback command to the feedback data transmitter section 34
through other communication means such as another telephone while
the identification number is input so as to compulsorily send the
data and feed back them. This enables the failure to be restored to
the original condition by feeding back the control information. Of
course, the other setup function information, the telephone call
information and so on can be fed back to the portable telephone 10
by applying the command from the feedback data transmitter section
34 of the data backup equipment 14.
[0065] In the invention, the data to be transmitted from the
portable telephone 10 to the host office or the data to be fed back
from the data backup equipment 14 in the host office 12 to the
portable telephone 10 may be arbitrarily selected and set.
[0066] As aforementioned, the invention can back up the various
data set and stored in the portable telephone 10, but the user will
not want to back up any data among the various data or to feed back
and re-memorize or write any data among the backed up data. To this
end, in the condition that all the data can be transmitted, the
data to be transmitted to the host office 12 can be arbitrarily set
so as to be able to be selected whereby the data that the user
doesn't want to back up or feed back are never transmitted to the
host office 12 or in the condition that all the data are backed up
by the data backup equipment 14, the individual data which the user
don't want to be fed back can be arbitrarily selected among all the
information backed up in the data backup equipment 14.
[0067] More particularly, as shown in FIG. 2, this can be
accomplished by providing a telephone side data selection section
to arbitrarily select and set the data to be transmitted from the
portable telephone 10 to the host office 12 by the data transmitter
section 16 or the data to be fed back from the host office 12 to
the portable telephone 10 by the data feedback section 12. This
enables the data which the user doesn't want to be renewed to be
arbitrarily set, which can prevent the unintentional data from
being updated and can omit the transmission of the unnecessary
data.
[0068] As aforementioned, in case that the data are fed back from
the feedback data transmitter section 34 of the data backup
equipment 14 in the host office 12 in order to feed back the data
such as the control information, there may be provided a host
office side data selection section 38 to arbitrarily set and select
the data to be fed back to the portable telephone 10 by the
feedback data transmitter section 34 as shown in FIG. 1.
[0069] In invention, in the data backup equipment 14 provided in
the host office 12 may be provided a data process section 40 as
shown in FIG. 1. The data process section 40 serves to
automatically process or convert the data received from the
portable telephone 10 in case that the data have such predetermined
conditions as the data are required to be processed.
[0070] Thus, in case that there is a revision of the control
program or the like (the predetermined condition 1), the control
signal for the control program and so on are upgraded and fed back
to the portable telephone 10 by the data feedback section 32 of the
portable telephone 10 or by the feedback data transmitter section
34 to re-memorize them whereby a new function can be easily added
to the portable telephone 10.
[0071] Furthermore, since the numbers of the cellular phones and
the PHSs which are stored by 10 figures (the predetermined
condition 2) can be converted into the proper numbers of 11 figures
and the data which are stored in Kana characters (the predetermined
condition 3) can be converted into the ones in Chinese characters
corresponding thereto, the existing portable telephones can be
easily made to upgrade by affording the same function as the newest
model to the existing telephones of the old model. The
predetermined conditions can be manually, electrically or
mechanically set and input in the data process section 40 in
accordance with the nature thereof.
[0072] Although, in the illustrated embodiment, the initial command
for the backup of the data is given by the data transmitter section
16 associating with the telephone call, it is not limited thereto
and the command may be alternatively given from the data backup
equipment 14 in the host office 12 where the data should be fed
back.
[0073] In this case, in the data backup equipment 14, in addition
to the feedback data transmitter section 34, the host office side
data selection section 38 and the data process section 40, there
may be provided a data read section 42 to automatically read the
data in association with telephone call operation when the voice
signal begins to be delivered and received for the telephone call
between the portable telephone 10 and the host office 21 via the
radio signal as shown in FIG. 2.
[0074] This data read section 42 may be so set as to automatically
read the data to be backed up from the portable telephone 10 at an
arbitrary time set by a timer 28, which enables the user to
unconsciously back up the necessary data.
[0075] Preferably, the host office side data selection section 38
may arbitrarily select and set the data to be read from the
portable telephone 10 by the data read section 42 in addition to
the data fed back by the feedback data transmitter section 34.
[0076] The data backup equipment 14 may be desirably provided in
the portable telephone exchange station 12C as shown in FIG. 1, but
not in the base stations 12A located at various places in order to
collectively store and manage the data to be backed up. The place
where the data backup equipment 14 is located is not limited to the
portable telephone exchange station 12C, but may be the control
station 12B or the base station 12A. Also, it is not located at the
host office itself, but may be located at a separate place such as
a management center, for example and connected to the host office
whereby the data are stored. In this case the data backup equipment
14 may be connected to either of the base station 12A, the control
station 12B and the portable telephone exchange station 12C or any
ones of them.
[0077] In accordance with the invention, as aforementioned, since
the data such as the telephone numbers are automatically
transmitted to the host office and stored in the backup equipment
in association with the telephone call which is in the state of
ordinary use of the portable telephone, the telephone numbers and
so on can be positively backed up without any intentional backup
operation by the users. Thus, the backing up can be done without
any troublesome operation and the important data can be positively
prevented from being lost due to a failure to back up the data.
[0078] In this case, as the control information required for the
operation of the portable telephone such as the program or the like
peculiar to the portable telephone for making the telephone the
wait-for-state of the arrival or the dispatch thereof in order to
have the minimum function of the telephone in addition to the
information such as the telephone numbers input by the user as
aforementioned are backed up, even if an obstacle to the control
information happens by any cause and the portable telephone breaks
down, the control information can be easily restored by the backed
up data.
[0079] Furthermore, since various setup function information such
as the selection of a personal identification number for making
various setups and an arrival sound, the adjustment of the arrival
sound volume or telephone call volume, the setup of the answering
machine and the dial key lock set by the user is backed up, even
though these data are eliminated or even though the old telephone
is replaced by the new telephone, the user itself is not required
to re-input the setup function information because the backed up
data can be used, which requires no troublesome operation of the
user.
[0080] Since the arrival telephone number information (arrival
history) and the dispatch telephone number information (dispatch
history) among the telephone call information in addition to the
telephone numbers are also backed up, even though the former data
are eliminated because of the telephone call information amount
exceeding the memory limit of the portable telephone, the user can
have access to and use the eliminated data. Similarly, even though
the information fails to be stored in the memory dial (telephone
directory), the user can have access to and use the information
later. Also, since the telephone call time is backed up, it can be
used for referring to the use time and the use charge later.
[0081] Since the data are backed up in the backup equipment
provided in or connected to the host office for the telephone call,
no peculiar equipment is required to be provided on the side of the
user.
[0082] Since the data to be backed up are automatically transmitted
to the host office at the arbitrary time set by the timer, the
required data can be positively backed yup even though the
telephone call by the telephone arrival or dispatch is not carried
out by the user over a long period of time. Thus, the data can be
fully prevented from being accidentally lost.
[0083] Since the invention can feed back the data stored in the
data backup equipment to the portable telephone, the data such as
the telephone numbers and others can be restored to the original
condition even though they are accidentally eliminated. In case
that the old portable telephone is replaced by the new portable
telephone, the data such as the telephone numbers and so on set and
used in the former portable telephone can be used for the new
portable telephone without any operation of re-inputting and
re-setting the data as well.
[0084] Since the data to be backed up or fed back can be selected
and set, the data that the user doesn't want to update can be set
up arbitrarily and therefore the unintentional update of the data
can be prevented and the unnecessary data communications can be
omitted.
[0085] Since the data read from the portable telephone is adapted
to be automatically processed or converted and stored in case that
the data have such predetermined conditions as the data are
required to be processed, the control signal such as the control
program or the likes are re-memorized in the portable telephone
after its upgrade so as to easily add the new functions thereto.
Furthermore, since the numbers of the cellular phones and the PHSs
which are stored by 10 figures can be converted into the proper
numbers of 11 figures and the data which are stored in Kana
characters can be converted into the ones in Chinese characters
corresponding thereto, the existing portable telephones can be
easily made to upgrade by affording the same function as the newest
model to the existing telephones of the old model.
[0086] Since the invention can automatically notify the portable
telephone at the arbitrary time set by the timer that the data to
be backed up should be transmitted to the host office, the data can
be positively backed up even though the user don't do the telephone
call over a long period of time.
UTILIZABILITY FOR INDUSTRIES
[0087] As aforementioned, the method of the invention can
unconsciously store the data set and memorized in the portable
telephone without any peculiar operation and therefore suitable for
storage service of the data of the portable telephone.
* * * * *